


Lakes of Frozen Tears

by supernovainparadise



Series: Seafoam [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Badass Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Disaster Sokka (Avatar), Blood and Violence, Bloodbending (Avatar), Book 3: Fire, Canonical Character Death, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Falling In Love, Found Family, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, It doesn't get too graphic, M/M, Minor Character Death, Momo being Momo, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, She also gets more screentime in this one!, Sleep Deprivation, Slow Burn, Waterbender Zuko, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), but it is mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26040049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernovainparadise/pseuds/supernovainparadise
Summary: Zuko leaves Ba Sing Se behind, and with it his Uncle and sister. The road ahead is clouded, and Zuko cannot tell what lies on the horizon. But one thing is clear; the war must draw to a close soon, one way or another.Zuko knows he will be instrumental at the end of it all, no matter the outcome. He knows that it will likely result in the death of his father, maybe even the destruction of his homeland. It could end in his own death and yet... As the sun bears down on Zuko, he watches as the end draws ever nearer.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda & Katara (Avatar), Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Lu Ten & Zuko, Mai & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Ursa & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) & Original Character(s)
Series: Seafoam [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872988
Comments: 9
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unless I add additional oneshots, this part will be the last within the main story! Enjoy, comments and kudos are always appreciated! I read every single comment you guys leave, even if I don't respond.

Zuko hates this ship. The cold metal beneath his feet, the constant hum of the engines, the choking smoke that billows from the stacks... All of it forms an all too familiar picture of a time he'd very much like to put behind him, of three years spent at sea with an impossible task set ahead of him. The situation they're stuck in now is all to reminiscent of those three years. Drifting at sea, skirting Fire Nation ships, with a task that they may never achieve set ahead of them all. It's enough to make Zuko sick, and the familiar and heavy armor doesn't help. He wants to toss each piece far out into the water and watch it sink beneath the wave. He wants to trade the armor for his soft blue clothes, for the arm wraps that Sokka taught him how to do, and the braids that Katara likes to do in his hair.

Instead, he tugs at the shoulder pads and resumes his patrol of the deck with Sokka opposite of him and Hakoda standing at the bow of the ship, staring out over the waves with a contemplative expression. Katara is below deck, working her healing powers, and though Zuko occasionally helps her, he isn't much of a healer. He can do minor wounds just fine; cuts and burns and bruises. But the lightning scar on Aang's back? He doesn't have the ability in him to heal that. It's a miracle he even has the sliver of a gift that he does. He thinks he hears Toph scuttling around somewhere, able to "see" around the ship due to her impressive metalbending abilities. Momo flies down and lands on Zuko's shoulder, chittering softly in his ear. He absentmindedly scratches the lemur behind his ears as he watches the sun set beneath the waves.

The moon begins to imbed him with her familiar power as Zuko makes his last rounds, before he joins a few of the others and settles in next to Toph, who flops her head on his shoulder. He smiles and takes the offered bowl of soup from Chief Hakoda, who smiles brightly at him. That's something that's surprised Zuko so far; just how friendly Sokka and Katara's father has been. He was never suspicious of Zuko, and when the ex-prince inevitably questioned him about it, Hakoda smiled at him and said, "my children trust you. That's enough for me."

Katara joined them shortly after, and they began to eat. Chatter was low, though Bato did try to initiate it a few times. Zuko couldn't tell if the lack of conversation was due to a lack of topics, or a lack of morale. Maybe it was simply both.

The quiet doesn't last; the door to the underbelly of the ship suddenly flies open and Aang comes springing out with a panicked look on his face. Everyone jumps to their feet, and Aang freezes as Momo launches himself off of Zuko and into Aang's arms. Everyone smiles down at him, and though he's confused, he's more than willing to sit down and eat supper with them.

It's shortly after dinner, and the gang has separated from the others that things start to go downhill, as they always do. It's Sokka who breaks the news to Aang that he's thought to be dead by most of the world. Aang... does not take the news well. It ends in a brief argument, cut short by the drifting by of a nearby ship. Zuko and Sokka shove their helmets on, converting their faces, and Hakoda takes the acting role of the captain. 

It seems, for a moment, that they've made it through. But the crew sees through their lies, just barely, and are quick to turn on them. Chaos erupts, and Katara, Toph, and Zuko are forced to use their bending to escape the Fire Nation. By sheer luck, as they make their way through the Serpent's Pass, it's namesake jumps out of the water. The Fire Nation fires at it, which enrages the beast. It wraps around the ship, and they are able to escape out to open sea.

They pull into port soon after, and by then dawn has broken. Zuko stays behind to keep an eye on the ship, and due to how recognizable he is within the Fire Nation. Katara and the others head out to gather supplies. He's heading down to sleep, and he feels as though his head has barely hit the pillow when a voice breaks through his dreams.

"Wake up, Prince Zuko... You must wake up..."

No... _voices_?

"Zuko... Please... Wake up!"

He bolts upright and looks around. There's no one in his room and yet... He quickly tugs on his clothes and doesn't bother with sandals as he sprints up to the deck to find the others anxiously over the water. Sokka turns to him, and says, "Aang's gone."

Zuko curses, and before anyone can stop him, flings himself over the edge of the ship. He thinks he hear's Bato's voice carrying on the wind, shouting at him to come back, but he ignores the call and instead focuses on taming the waves in front of him. He manages to make a board of ice, and though it carries him a good way, the storm prevents him from going any further... But in the distance, he sees the glow of fire. He returns to the ship, and they hop on Appa, setting a course for Crescent Island.

They find Aang there in the morning, as the sun rises above the horizon. Aang admits that he shouldn't have left, and agrees to keep himself secret. Zuko smiles softly, and glances up at the volcano, where the Fire Temple once stood. Those days feel so long ago, he thinks, and yet...

He feels like they were just yesterday as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Order of business number one was getting new clothes. Zuko wanted nothing more than to be out of the foot solider's armor and maybe free of these memories for a time as well. So, because they were really out of options, they may or may not have... raided a handful of laundry lines for Fire Nation clothes.

Y'know, to blend in!

After they've gotten their clothes and changed, they head into the nearby town to grab some matching accessories and Zuko is surprised to find that nobody recognizes him. In fact, most people barely spare him and his scar a glance. Zuko had forgotten what that felt like, having spent so much time in the Earth Kingdom and Ba Sing Se, but here... Most people likely just chalked it up to a training accident. Just imagined that Zuko was another firebender among them, and thus, their gaze didn't linger long.

Things don't go quite as planned long. Aang stops to wait for them, and they manage to grab a few basics before heading back to where they were supposed meet up and...

Aang is missing.

The day passes, and though they covertly try to search for their friend, they ultimately give up and return to the cave. It's growing dark, and Zuko is about to go out and try again when Momo suddenly perks up and flies towards the entrance of the cave. They all look up to see Aang standing there, with a grin on his face. They stand and, unsurprisingly, Katara immediately begins to scold him for the hour.

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"

"I was at school!"

It's silent enough that all Zuko can hear are the crickets outside, before Sokka speaks up, "at _what_?!"

"I spent all day learning about the fire nation!"

"About _what?!_ "

"Sokka, relax," Zuko says with a sigh as Aang joins him next to the fire. "It's mostly propaganda. The curriculum has been useless since Sozin's days."

"School is useless in general, if you ask me," Toph speaks up, tossing a handful of nuts into her mouth.

"But I had so much fun! I wanna go back tomorrow!"

Everyone stares at Aang (except for Toph, who's looking just above his head. Does she do it on purpose...?) who clarifies, "besides, we'll learn about a secret river that goes right beneath the palace!"

"..." Zuko purses his lips at Aang, who at least has the good sense to look kinda sheepish, but Sokka buys the lie anyways.

"A secret river, huh? I do like secret rivers..."

Zuko should be unsurprised when hijinks occur, involving bad costumes and ending with Aang suggesting they throw a secret dance party, but nonetheless, Zuko is maybe a tiny bit surprised. By the dance party, at least. Everything else seems fairly typical.

And so that's what they do. They set up a band and Aang's classmates come down to the cave. They are... apprehensive to say the least, and Zuko can't blame them. But either way, Aang manages to get most people on their feet, and encourages them to dance. And maybe someone's spiked the punch, or maybe it's just the familiar music beating up through his feet and into his stomach, but it's been a long time since Zuko's done anything this. Before his banishment, maybe even back when his mother was still around. And so, he hops to his feet, grabs Sokka by the hand and says, "dance with me."

Sokka seems more than a little surprised but then he shrugs and says, "sure." And Zuko's sure he's imagining the blush on his face there, but either way, he tugs Sokka out into the crowd,, and his hands are warm and calloused from years of hard work, and he won't say it but... Zuko never wants to let go of his hands. It doesn't help that they move so easily together as well; with every practiced step he takes, Sokka matches it with ease. It feels familiar and warm, and by the time the song ends, Zuko is closer to the other boy than he ever has been, and the urge to kiss him has skyrocketed. Which is saying something, since Zuko's wanted to feel Sokka's lips against his own nearly every time he sees him.

The night ends too quickly when the warden and his snitch show up and try to detain Aang. But the quick thinking of his classmates allows them to escape, out of the town and into the starry sky, exchanging jokes and laughter as Appa sails away to wherever their next destination lies.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, YUCK! This is disgusting!"

"I think I got some on my hand, _Zuko I think I got some on my hand-!_ _"_

"Oh, will you two babies quit whining?!" Toph snaps, and Sokka stops shaking his hand and Zuko sits, albeit as far from the edge of Appa's saddle as possible.

Unable to travel by air due to their visibility, they're forced to instead travel by water. Usually, it's not much a fuss. Appa enjoys swimming, and it gives Zuko time to practice his bending. Katara's been trying to get him to hone his healing skills, but it seems that the best he can do is the basics; burns and scrapes and bruises. Nothing too deep, or too damaging. He can barely numb pain, as demonstrated by his attempt to cure Sokka's claimed headache earlier that day. Sokka had told him it helped, but Zuko still caught him rubbing his temples later. Katara had told him it was fine; not everyone was meant for healing and his combative abilities more than made up for it!

Zuko had given her a smile but had still felt like he wasn't enough. Combat was great but... he wanted to learn to heal. To be able to really separate himself from his family with an ability that didn't bring destruction, but instead restored life.

At any rate, this river, if you could even call it that, was not the best place to practice bending. Zuko could still pull up clean water, but often at the expense of bringing whatever gunk was polluting it into Appa's saddle as well. So it was probably for the best when then headed to land, and Zuko and Katara took some time to clean him off with their bending water. Then, it was on to making dinner...

If only there was more than water and herbs to _make_ for dinner.

Luckily, a small fishing village sits on the river, and a kind fisherman named Dock takes them across to the boardwalks. And Zuko... almost wished he hadn't. The people here are not the citizens he's grown familiar with. They are ill and poor, and the entire village is downtrodden. It feels like the happiness that must have once been in this place has been drained, leaving behind only muck and disease in its place.

They buy a few fish from a man who looks... an awful lot like Dock, named Xu. As they turn to walk around the small market and see what else they can dig up, a small boy comes up to Katara and gently tugs on her skirt. "Excuse me, do you have any food?"

Katara frowns and hands him one of the fish. "I wish I could do more..."

The child gives her a toothy grin and says, "thanks!" before running off to give the fish to his ailing mother.

Zuko gently sets a hand on Katara's shoulder, and she reaches up and squeezes it gently, giving him a grateful smile. They manage to come away with some root vegetables before going back across the lake, where Zuko starts dinner as the others chatter about the village and the invasion and the war. Sokka spends most of this time complaining about their "master schedule" and if Zuko accidentally drops some of the river sludge on his head, well...

Who's here to tell?

As they eat, Zuko notices that Katara seems... out of focus. Her gaze keeps drifting towards the village, and the factory on the hill upriver. Zuko feels something like suspicion and worry curl in his gut but ignores it for the relatively flavorless fish soup instead. He sleeps surprisingly soundly that night, but when they awaken...

"I think Appa is sick," Katara says, and it certainly appears that way, with the purple tongue and Appa laying on his side.

"This completely ruins our schedule!" Sokka whines and Zuko silently begins to reevaluate the reasons he's so infatuated with him.

They end up going into the village to try and find medicine and find that overnight... The village has changed. Where it was once depressing and dark and dull, the people were now full of life. Xu explains, when they go to buy medicine, that the spirit that protects them, the Painted Lady, delivered food to the village overnight. However, when they ask about medicine, he tells them that all of it goes to the factory up on the hill.

Sokka buys a two-headed fish that Zuko refuses to cook, and they leave the village behind. When they return to the bluff, Katara heals Appa a bit before they eat Sokka's poorly cooked stew. (Never let it be said that Zuko doesn't stay true to his word!) But the next morning, Appa seems no better. They head down into the village for one last-ditch effort to get some sort of medicine and find that the town is even livelier than it was the day before. The townspeople are in the middle of erecting a large statue in honor of the painted lady, Xu explains. When they mention that Appa is still sick, Xu suggests that maybe the Painted Lady will heal him.

Sokka snorts. "Yeah, and maybe she'll use her spirit magic to blow up the factory, too!"

Katara rounds on him with a scowl. "Sokka!"

"What? The only way to permanently help these people is by getting rid of that factory. The Painted Lady can't do that."

Zuko frowns at Sokka's retreating back, before turning his gaze up to the factory and thinking, _Maybe the Painted Lady can't... But perhaps the Blue Spirit can!_

Late that night, as opposed to sleeping, Zuko slips out of his cot and changes into all black, before tugging his daos onto his back and pulling out his mask. He runs his fingers along the familiar grooves, and tugs it on before creeping up the ridge as silently as he can. But as he rounds the corner, he sees a figure in a flowing dress and veil standing on the ridge, and he inhales sharply.

"You're the painted lady," he whispers.

Her shoulders stiffen, and she rasps, "yes. I am here to help these people..."

Zuko frowns. Something about her voice sounds... familiar. "Funny... So am I. Us "spirits" ought to stick together, right?"

She hesitates, then says, "I'm sorry. I work alone."

"Really? Coulda sworn waterbending was most effective in a group," Zuko accuses, tugging his mask up and crossing his arms. "Start talking, Katara."

Katara sighs and takes off her hat, turning to face her friend. "I couldn't just do nothing! These people were suffering and..."

"Is Appa even really sick?"

"He might be sick... of the purple berries I've been feeding him," Katara says, shrugging with a little smirk, though it quickly falls. "I'm sorry. I've screwed everything up, I know. I never should have-"

"No." Zuko chokes out, as the familiarity of the words washes over him. "You didn't screw anything up. Never apologize for doing the right thing." Zuko turns from her for a moment, then grins. "Now, I believe a couple of spirits are about to destroy a factory..."

Katara grins, and they rush up the slope towards the factory, which quickly turns into nothing more than a slagheap thanks to some clever waterbending and slicing. It takes them only a few hours to destroy the factory, stopping the output of pollutants into the river. They return to camp, more than a little overjoyed at their success...

To find Sokka, Aang, and Toph waiting, having already figured out what's going on. Sokka seems set on scolding them, but just before he can really dig into them, they look down at the river to see Fire Nation soldiers heading towards the village at breakneck speed, and they all know that they can't let the villagers take the blame for the destruction of the factory. So they spring down and arrive on the docks just in time to see the Captain confronting the villagers with an angry scowl.

A good deal of quick thinking and cleverness and Katara's disguise as the Painted Lady chases them away. For good, this time. It seems like everything's gone well until one of the villagers notices Katara's paint coming off... and the truth is forced to come out. The villagers are angry, but it doesn't take much effort for them to talk them down and suggest that they use Katara, Zuko, and Aang's waterbending to clean the river. 

It's late, and Katara is fetching more bending water by the docks while Zuko stands out on the edge of the town, staring out at the reflection of the moon in the river. He inhales the humid air and stretches, enjoying the feeling of new energy coursing through his veins. He turns to leave, but something... stops him. A glowing light, coming from the spot he just turned away from. Confused, Zuko turns back towards it to see something he didn't expect.

Princess Yue, standing delicately on the water's surface.

She smiles at him, even as Zuko gapes, and says, "you've come so far since the invasion at the North Pole, Zuko... I am so proud of you, for learning more and more about yourself, and trusting your abilities..."

"I--"

Yue gently takes his hand, and her smile turns a little sad. "Take care of him for me, please?"

Zuko nods, and Yue fades back into the velvety night sky.


End file.
